'Tribal politics' fuel dysfunction in Congress

Sunday

Feb 10, 2013 at 2:00 AM

In December, Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine, was appointed to the House Appropriations Committee. It was an historic appointment as Pingree is only the fourth congressional representative from Maine to have a spot on the committee and just the second since the late 19th century, and the first in more than four decades.

Michael McCord

In December, Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine, was appointed to the House Appropriations Committee. It was an historic appointment as Pingree is only the fourth congressional representative from Maine to have a spot on the committee and just the second since the late 19th century, and the first in more than four decades.

The Appropriations Committee is critical due to its role in approving almost all bills having to do federal government spending and is a much smaller panel than her previous assignment on the Armed Services Committee, which has more than 65 members.

"It's a great opportunity to have a significant impact on how money is spent on programs that affect Maine, like shipbuilding or agriculture," Pingree said. "I know it will be a lot of work but will be well worth it to be able to influence spending priorities in Maine and nationally."

The larger issue facing Pingree and all members of the Republican-led House of the 113th Congress is just how much work, hard or otherwise, will get done on issues such as gun control, immigration, tax reform, climate change, the federal deficit and automatic budget cuts. The 112th Congress (2011-2013), in which Republicans controlled the House and Democrats the Senate, smashed the record for lack of productivity by passing only 220 bills that became law, many of them non-controversial (the previous lack of productivity honor went to the 104th Congress in 1995-1997). Even the 80th Congress, which attained historical lore when President Harry Truman called it a "do nothing Congress" during the 1948 presidential campaign, passed more than 900 bills.

In the Senate during the 112th Congress, Republicans used the filibuster more than 375 times to slow down or kill legislation and presidential appointments to the Judicial and Executive branches. Meanwhile, the Democratic-led Senate has yet to produce a budget plan since 2009. In the House, Republicans voted more than 30 times to abolish the Affordable Care Act.

In addition to increased partisan rancor, the congressional work load in Washington has decreased year by year as schedules have become more focused on allowing members to spend more time in their districts and to fund raise for their next campaign. The public may not understand how the congressional calendar works, but it certainly disapproves of what it is doing as an institution.

According to a poll Gallup conducted in January, the 113th Congress began with a public approval rating of 14 percent, which was slightly below the 15 percent at the end of the 112th Congress. Another January survey by Public Policy Polling pegged Congress with 9 percent approval, a rating far below the popularity of lice, Brussels sprouts, root canals and used car salesmen.

Pingree said the issue of a less-than-robust work schedule set by congressional leaders is connected to the profound ideological divide about the role of government — and she understands the frustrations of her constituents.

"There's plenty of work to do. I'm just as frustrated as they are," she said of voters in her district. "I will say that it's better functioning when members spend more time in D.C."

Pingree, who hopes for better productivity and healthier across-the-aisle political relationships in the current Congress, said her first term as a representative was much busier as the Democratic-led House debated and passed a number of laws such as the Affordable Care Act, financial reform, energy legislation and the stimulus package for the country's hobbled economy.

"Just because of the nature of the health care bill, we had many hearings and meetings," she said. "These were big pieces of legislation that led to big changes. When you consider what's happening today, we aren't there much because they (Republican House leaders) don't do much. (The 112th) was a very different Congress. They didn't seem very interested in reform or governing."

'It looks terrible'

Former N.H. 1st District Congressman Jeb Bradley, a Wolfeboro Republican who served from 2003 to 2007, said the squabbles over congressional productivity tend to be less ideological than political.

When Bradley was part of the Republican majority, he said, "The Democrats and (Democratic House leader) Nancy Pelosi made a big deal of it, that we were only in session from Tuesday to Thursday. And they had the same schedule when they got control."

Bradley understands the public's frustration with congressional dysfunction and concern whether Congress works enough on the people's business. Bradley said he lived in his D.C. office and kept an "unbelievable work schedule" between work in D.C. and staying visible in the home district.

"The criticism is part of the nature of serving in the House," he said. "Unless you understand the inner workings of how the House functions and its schedule, it looks terrible to an average member of the public who see they are only in session two to three days a week."

Bradley, who now serves as the New Hampshire state Senate majority leader, said it's an "interesting phenomenon" that while the collective public approval of Congress is at an all-time low, the approval ratings are almost always higher for individual members of Congress. Bradley believes it's critical to be visible and responsive in the district.

"The pressures of being visible and accessible in your district by going to as many events as possible and doing your work in D.C. are significant," Bradley said. "I gained weight and got out of shape. It is tough on your personal life."

'Tribal politics'

Norm Ornstein, a congressional expert and resident scholar at the conservative American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C., said the low public approval rating and low productivity in Congress reflect a deep political dysfunction that is more about "tribal politics" than typical partisan debates.

"What we suggest is that this is the worst we have seen in our lifetimes," said Ornstein, who co-authored the recent book on congressional dysfunction, "It's Even Worse Than It Looks."

He said a group of ideological extremists have had a disproportionate impact on congressional priorities and work habits — and have created an artificial collection of budget showdowns.

"There are a group of people (in Congress) who don't like government and don't care about good government or about whether programs should work as intended," Ornstein said. "There's this idea of 'you get infected with the virus' if you want to spend time here and work hard on solutions."

Rep. Carol Shea-Porter, D-N.H., is a month into her third term and first as a minority member in the House. The 1st District congresswoman from Rochester said she wants Congress to work harder and longer.

"While I've taken a few important votes such as authorizing money for Hurricane Sandy victims, the actual legislative activity on the floor is at a snail's pace. There are too few days that we will actually be in session and voting, and this is just wrong," Shea-Porter said. "Congress should be doing more oversight, we have major challenges in front of us, and we should be working together to hammer out compromises and solutions. We have to deal with the sequester, the debt ceiling and many other looming problems. We should be in committees and debating on the floor, like we used to."

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